Pollinators came to national attention due, in part, to concern that neonicotinoid insecticides may be harmful to them. This spring, concern for monarchs and concern about neonicotinoids have collided.

Pine needle scales are relatively easy to find and to monitor for crawler activity. Stare at the needles of any urban pine for a minute and you will see white flecks on the needles. These are the scales. You can flip the covers with a pin while looking at them with a hand lens. The females are purple blobs the eggs, if present , will spill out as tiny purple ovals.

Dead carpenter bee. Photo: SDF In spring carpenter bees, Xylocopa virginica, begin emerging from their winter hibernation. Many people are not concerned about dead bees but instead become alarmed when swarms of live [...]

Oak eriococcin scale eggs spill out after removing the white cover. Photo: SDF We have written before about felt scales on oak trees. Oak eriococcin scales, Eriococcus quercus, are one of the earliest scale [...]